Cfia

  • 22 confirmed sick from Salmonella in Mexican mangoes in Canada

    Posted: August 25th, 2012 - 3:51pm by Doug Powell

    Canadian government types remain hopeless about talking about food safety basics.

    For all its talk of a single food inspection system, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency can do no better than say, “there have been several confirmed illnesses associated with the consumption of these mangoes.”

    It’s up to Health Canada to say how many are sick, which they did on a Saturday afternoon. The PR flunkies probably were paid double-time to produce this gem.

    “Table 1, below, shows where and how many illnesses have been reported to date. The Public Health Agency of Canada will update this table weekly during the course of the investigation.

    Table 1. Location and number of Salmonella Braenderup infections
    as of August 22, 2012
    Location Confirmed cases
    British Columbia 17
    Alberta 5
    TOTAL 22


    “What you should do

    “If you have the product, do not eat it. Secure it in a plastic bag and throw it out. Then wash your hands thoroughly in warm soapy water.

    “Everyone can protect themselves against Salmonella infections by taking proper precautions when handling and preparing foods.”

    Salmonella is in your hands; not the mango growers, distributers or retailers, but consumers.

    Why do taxpayers pay to be reminded that foodborne illness is their fault – when it isn’t?

    The press release also has some advice, like to protect yourself from Salmonella, “wash your hands thoroughly after feeding or handling pets.”

    I’m not sure what that has to do with Mexican mangoes.

    The paternalistic press release also says people should practice these general food safety precautions at all times. Those tips are about cooking temperatures for meat.

    It’s still summer in Canada, most people will go back to sleep.

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  • Surveys suck: Canadians continue to have confidence in Canada's food safety myths

    Posted: July 15th, 2012 - 3:23am by Doug Powell

    Canadians paid $93,000 for 1,009 of their fellow citizens to get probed.

    A lot.

    That $93,000 – and weeks of civil servant salaries – also reminded Canadians they were confident in Canada's food safety system.

    According to results from a recent study commissioned by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). 93 per cent of Canadians surveyed expressed a degree of confidence in Canada's food safety system

    I’m not sure what a degree of confidence is, but that didn’t stop Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz from proclaiming, with a straight face, “Canadians trust this government to protect the safety of Canada's food supply and rightly so.”

    The final, awful study Food Safety: Canadians' Awareness, Attitudes and Behaviours PDF (2,024 kb) (POR 029-11) can be found on the Library and Archives Canada's website at www.porr-rrop.gc.ca.

    Specific objectives of the research included:

    • probe Canadians’ views on the government’s food safety communications and provision of food safety information, including allergen information;
    • probe Canadians’ understanding of food inspections and the role of a federal food inspector;
    • probe Canadians’ understanding of the food safety system and the role of the CFIA;
    • probe Canadians’ understanding of standards for imported foods and labelling; and,
    • probe Canadians’ information needs and channel preferences.

     

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  • Is it grumpiness with age or has mediocrity won PR (or both)

    Posted: July 7th, 2012 - 2:53am by Doug Powell

    My friend Jim Romahn has been reporting on agriculture in Canada since federal Ag Minister Eugene Whelan started wearing green Stetsons.

    Jim used to write speeches for Gene.

    And he’s getting snarkier.

    I know the feeling.

    Jim writes the U.S. Department of Agriculture is adopting a new multi-testing system for meat that will make it much more difficult to sneak illegal residues into the country.

    But the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is, once again, lagging behind.

    When I asked if the CFIA is aware of the U.S. change and whether it's doing anything similar, I got a nifty dissembling spin-doctored response.

    Yes, the CFIA said, it's aware of the U.S. move.

    Yes, it said, it tests meat, poultry and eggs for more than 300 chemicals.

    And yes, it is using a multi-residue test.

    However, that multi-residue test is limited to about 30 antibiotics. That's nowhere close to what the U.S. is now doing.

    The single-sample testing the U.S. is implementing is for antibiotics, metals and growth promotants.

    In the past, meat could sneak by if the sample was tested for one chemical or for one type of residue, such as antimicrobials. Not now.

    When it comes to food safety and integrity, the CFIA just says Canada has the highest standards in the world, and one of the best inspection systems in the world. It's just hot air, folks.

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  • But will it mean fewer sick people? Canadian food rules being rewritten

    Posted: June 3rd, 2012 - 12:49pm by Doug Powell

    First a single inspection agency, now a move to a single inspection approach across all commodities.

    As reported by Sarah Schmidt of Postmedia News, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency released Friday its vision to modernize food inspection, making the case for getting rid of eight separate programs for dairy, eggs, seafood, fresh fruits and vegetables, imported and manufactured food, maple, meat and processed products.

    “This challenges the CFIA to manage risks consistently across different types of establishments and different foods. It creates situations in which foods of similar risks may be inspected at different frequencies or in different ways,'” CFIA writes of the current system in its discussion paper.

    “The model should raise the bar and set expectations for food control systems that are developed and maintained by industry with risk-based government oversight. It should also standardize requirements and procedures across all food, based on science and risk.”

    The release of the proposal, dubbed The Case for Change, kick-starts consultations, with a final plan to be released by next year and phased in over the next five years.

    A new food safety act, bringing together multiple laws under one piece of legislation, is also expected to be tabled as early as this month.

    Together, these changes will represent the single largest transformation since CFIA was created in 1997, when food inspection programs from different federal departments were brought under the umbrella of the agency.

    View the CFIA’s The Case for Change and the direction that the Agency is taking to improve food inspection on the inspection modernization section of the CFIA website.

    Forewarned: multiple summaries are easy to find, actual details, not so much. Typical CFIA.

    And it wouldn’t be CFIA without heaps of self-referential praise.

    "We already have a top-tier food safety system but our goal is to be the best," said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. "Simply put, we want Canadians to have the safest food in the world. That is why we are seeking input from consumers, inspectors, food safety experts, industry and everyone who has a role to play in food safety."

    Sounds good. Walk the talk. Provide better information about outbreaks, especially homegrown ones.

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  • Why does CFIA have so many secret documents?

    Posted: May 24th, 2012 - 4:35am by Doug Powell

    The sanctimony gets rich listening to self-proclaimed environmentalists or cost-cutters or advocates burning up carbon and racking up frequent-flier points to spread their gospel.

    Canadians are apparently upset that Bill Teeter, who works for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency out of Guelph, Ont., travelled to Ottawa 45 times between January 18 and December 22, 2011, racking up bills in excess of $100,000 on a mission to uncover ways to trim government spending.

    Global Winnipeg thinks the bad part is Teeter claimed $446.57 in hospitality expenses in 2011, shopping at Costco, A & W, a local shawarma restaurant, Canadian Tire and Boston Pizza to host three meals with government officials.

    This guy screams Canadiana and sir, I salute your austerity. He probably even kept the Canadian Tire money for himself, maybe accumulating enough to buy a Tim Hortons coffee.

    The bad part is this: “Teeter had a team of 14 people in Ottawa, working with secret documents that could neither be transferred over networks nor transported from Ottawa, a spokesman for the CFIA said. “

    Why does the taxpayer-funded food agency have so many secret documents?

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  • Scrapie sheep kidnappers say infected flock in protective custody

    Posted: April 30th, 2012 - 12:17am by Doug Powell

    PC may be politically correct, but in jail it means protective custody, not much better than the hole.

    Two days after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed scrapie in a recently deceased sheep from a quarantined flock in Eastern Ontario, and a month after CFIA was scheduled to confiscate the Shropshire sheep, the previously unknown group Farmers' Peace Corps kidnapped the 31 sheep slated for slaughter, leaving a note that read:

    “We have taken the animals into protective custody until an alternative to killing has been found, or conclusive independent proof or clear evidence of disease has been proven. This has been done without the knowledge or participation of the owner.”

    What say the people’s front now that scrapie has been confirmed? Not independent? Testing for scrapie or other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies isn’t something that can be done in a basement, like genetic engineering.

    The Globe and Mail reports that on Friday, CFIA notified Ms. Jones that an autopsy showed a sheep that died at the end of March on the farm was infected with scrapie.

    Montana Jones, the owner, said, “I don’t believe Lava (the name of the sheep) was actually infected. They just needed a sheep to pin it on. I just want whoever has my flock to bring it back to me and then everybody leave me alone.”

    CFIA said in its positive test announcement that Canada’s approach to confirmed or suspected cases of scrapie is based on internationally accepted science and seeks to minimize disruptions to producers.

    The missing sheep pose a serious risk for scrapie and could spread the disease to other sheep and goats. Any premises that receive them will be subject to a quarantine and further regulatory action.

    Quarantine breaches put the livestock industry and the economy at risk. Any person who breaches a quarantine may be subject to criminal prosecution under the Health of Animals Act.

     

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  • Toddlers dominate food safety discussion in Canada

    Posted: April 16th, 2012 - 3:51am by Doug Powell

    Why is meat inspected?

    Why does it have to be overseen by veterinarians?

    Does inspection result in fewer sick people?

    Do inspectors have pathogen-seeking goggles?

    How can the system be improved?

    In Canada, the years following the 2008 listeria-in-Maple-Leaf-deli-meat outbreak that killed 23, the federal inspectors' union has had the public discussion volume set to shrill.

    It’s now reached 11 as the federal government wants to make cuts to various levels of the civil service but offers no rationale, and the union blindly proclaims any cuts to federal meat inspectors would be “devastating.”

    Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, who inexplicably still has his job after joking on a conference call during the 2008 listeria outbreak he was dying death by a thousand cold-cuts -- while people were actually dying – blindly reiterates that there is "no way" the federal government would ever compromise food safety.

    Sarah Schmidt of Canada.com has asked for precise numbers — more than once. But for some reason, neither CFIA nor Gerry Ritz’s Office has responded to this request for specific details and numbers. Instead, this is what the media has received, in the form of a statement from Ritz (reproduced in part):

    “The Agency will not make any changes that would in any way place the health and safety of Canadians at risk. In fact, Economic Action Plan 2012 includes an additional $51 million over two years to enhance food safety, building upon the $100 million in last year’s budget. Ensuring safe food for Canadian families is CFIA’s priority and these changes underscore that commitment. Since 2006, the Harper Government has provided the investments for the CFIA to hire 733 net new inspection staff. Agriculture is a competitive modern industry, and changes will modernize Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada allowing it to concentrate on innovation, marketing and reducing barriers for business.”

    Ger, make your case, explain what government-back inspection does and does not do. Union types: make a case about the necessity of your role, using examples and data. Then maybe the two sides can work on something that actually makes fewer people barf; cause I thought this was all about food safety, At this point you both sound like my 3-year-old who goes into a trance-like meltdown when she’s in a mood or can’t get what she wants and huffs and puffs and repeats the same line 10 times.

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  • People are sick, but no one is saying how many; Salmonella outbreak in Canada linked to beef

    Posted: April 7th, 2012 - 1:58am by Doug Powell

    CFIA sucks at writing press releases.

    Information that other health agencies consider pertinent in a suspected outbreak of foodborne illness, like the number of suspected sick people, or how a positive test for a food product was obtained, are rarely included, leaving journalists and others to guess. It fuels suspicion, conspiracy theories and perceptions of incompetence, anything but confidence.

    So this is part of what CFIA issues about 4 a.m. EST.

    The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Intercity Packers (East) Ltd are warning the public, distributors and food service establishments not to consume, sell, serve or use the beef burger meat mix described below because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella.

    The affected product, Intercity Packers Ltd brand Beef Burger Meat Mix 80/20, is sold in 5 kg cases (each containing 2 x 2.5 kg units) bearing UPC 90066172180172 and lot code 046. The affected product can be identified by the Establishment number (EST) 503 that appears on the outer cases. The chubs inside the case do not carry any label.

    This product has been distributed to public and commercial food establishments in Ontario and Newfoundland and possibly retailers in Newfoundland. Consumers in Newfoundland are advised to check with their store of purchase to determine if they have the affected product.

    This is an ongoing food safety investigation. Provincial and local public health authorities are investigating an outbreak of Salmonella illnesses in Ottawa and southern Ontario in collaboration with federal health partners including the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

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  • On the run: sheep suspected with scrapie missing in Canada

    Posted: April 2nd, 2012 - 10:24pm by Doug Powell

    The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is working with provincial police to locate sheep that have been removed from a farm currently under a quarantine order. The sheep were quarantined as part of an ongoing scrapie investigation at a farm in Eastern Ontario.

    "The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is committed to protecting livestock health, and takes the management of animal diseases very seriously," said Dr. Brian Evans, Chief Veterinary Officer for Canada. "While we recognize that disease control activities can be difficult on producers, the eradication of animal diseases, such as scrapie, is critical to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the sheep industry."

    The sheep are suspected of having scrapie, a fatal disease that affects sheep and goats. While there is no human health risk associated with scrapie, it has serious impacts on sheep and the CFIA aims to eradicate it from Canada. Canada's approach to confirmed or suspected cases of scrapie is based on internationally accepted science and seeks to minimize disruptions to producers.

    Quarantine breaches may put the livestock industry and the economy at risk. Any person who breaches a quarantine may be subject to criminal prosecution under the Health of Animals Act.

    Because these animals may pose a risk for scrapie, premises that receive them may be subject to a quarantine and further regulatory action.

    "Our organization supports the eradication of scrapie," said Dr. Paula Menzies, representing the Small Ruminant Veterinarians of Ontario. "Although we sympathize with owners of affected flocks, Canada must deal effectively with this disease."

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  • Certain Mumm's Sprouting Seeds - Sunflower may contain Salmonella

    Posted: March 31st, 2012 - 4:27am by Doug Powell

    At least the seeds were recalled before someone got sick – unless there are sick people and regulators aren’t saying. They also aren’t saying if the testing was done by government or the company or who knows else. Or saying where the seed originated.

    The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Mumm's Sprouting Seeds Ltd. are warning the public not to consume the Mumm's brand Sprouting Seeds described below because the product may be contaminated withSalmonella.

    The affected product, Mumm's brand Sprouting Seeds - Sunflower, are sold in 75g packages bearing UPC 7 73295 07582 3 and lot # SF2020.

    This product is known to have been distributed in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario and may have been distributed nationally.

    There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.

    The importer, Mumm's Sprouting Seeds Ltd., Parkside, SK, is voluntarily recalling the affected product from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.

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